Every district and every site
has evaluations for both certificated and classified staff members. But what
about preparing these staff members for these staff members? How are we
ensuring that these employees are set up for success? This is where coaching
comes into play, and where I might argue is essential to the success of a
school. In order to understand the importance of both we must understand the
difference along with the importance of each.
What is the Difference between Evaluating
and Coaching?
The difference between a coach
and an evaluator in the field of education is simple. Coaches are there for
support and growth while an evaluator’s purpose is to calculate and score an
employee based on their performance. “The role of the mentor (coach) is to
advocate, support, and coach teachers as they learn and acquire new
instructional strategies for effective teaching” says “Coaching with a Focus,
whereas an evaluator is to provide a score based off performance. This just
means that a coaching observation’s purpose is to watch a teacher and assist in improvement. Coaches do this through
“providing advice [and] encourages the mentee teacher through reflective
questions to look at his/her own resources to determine planning and
problem-solving solutions. "An evaluator does not need to participate in the improvement
aspect. They provide the score, and then it is up to the employee to seek how
to improve.
Why are Evaluations and
Coaching BOTH Important?
Most understand that an evaluation
process is vital to understanding how employees are performing, and when it
comes to a school setting, to see if student’s are being taught and furthermore
understand and engage in how they are being taught. Without an evaluation,
there would be no accountability for the standards and furthermore, future of
our students.
IF evaluations are so imperative,
then why would we deem coaching equally as vital to the education system? The
importance of coaching is to assist staff members who are improving their
practice. Without instructional coaches, staff members do not have the opportunity
for feedback and practice to prepare or succeed during the evaluations.
Fletcher (2012) mentions that the GROW model is applicable to coaching and its
research:
-Goal setting
-Reality Check
-Options available
-Wrap up
While this acronym was created
for business, it related to the classroom too. Students have goals with
realistic expectations through the options made available by their teachers.
All of this results in the “wrap up” which would be their learning or the
product they have created. This of course would be done through the teacher
coaching them through the realistic goals (the standards) by giving choice
while teaching and collecting an assessment at the end to see if those goals
were obtained. Observing student work and giving student feedback are crucial
for improvements to be made in order to reach that goal. Dr. Vandenberg
mentions that teaching and learning do not always go hand in hand, but it is
important that the educator is facilitating the learning (p. 2). By following
this acronym, the educator is doing all they can to ensure that the student has
the opportunity to learn what we want to teach them (p, 2). Similarly, mentoring
teachers can be used with the same approach. The teacher can set goals based on
standard or on CSTP’s. The teacher should assure these are reasonable and
attainable. Any improvement is progress. A mentor can assist in all of these
steps, such as creating options for the teacher to obtain their goal before
that end product. They can also observe the teacher and give feedback for the
teacher to improve toward the standards or goals.
This, the idea of coaching/
goal setting, and observing ad offering feedback to help reach those goals not
only assists in student achievement regarding the standards, but in the
capacity of a teacher's strengths regarding the teaching of those standards.
References:
Coaching with a Focus.
(n.d.). Retrieved from https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gGVgrXXJSkpj5Ix_3q0FDevzN_mF_SvS/view
Fletcher, S. J., & Mullen,
C. A. (2012). SAGE Handbook of Mentoring and Coaching in Education. Retrieved
August 20, 2020, from https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/sage-handbook-of-mentoring-and-coaching-in-education/book235773
Vandenberg, L. (n.d.). Facilitating Adult
Learning. Retrieved from
https://www.canr.msu.edu/od/uploads/files/PD/Facilitating_Adult_Learning.pdf
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